My writing career: Throwing a changeup

As I mentioned last week, I recently finished another science fiction story, and yesterday I did a redraft that didn't blow my socks off, but did redress some of the criticism I'd received from my writers group. I decided it was time to submit, and that I'd hold off on another edit until I got rejected, if only to let the story "cool" in my head. Thus, when I get the rejection letter, I can look at the work with fresh eyes (and I'll continue to acclimate to the rejection process).

I did not, however, submit to Asimov's, as is my usual procedure. Instead, I dropped this story to Fantasy & Science Fiction, both as a change of pace, and because their own submissions page notes that "We receive a lot of fantasy fiction, but never enough science fiction or humor."

My little scribblings (less than 4000 words) were decidedly sci-fi, though no one would confuse them with the kind of hard SF that would grace the pages of Analog. I'm just not enough of a scientist (which is to say, no scientist at all) to hang with that crowd, so I've tended to submit to Asimov's, which is the middle ground amongst the so-called Big 3 speculative fiction magazines. Maybe the softer side of spec-fic is where I belong, so I'll give F&SF a try.

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About Jay Garmon

Jay Garmon has a vast and terrifying knowledge of all things obscure, obtuse, and irrelevant. One day, he hopes to write science fiction, but for now he'll settle for something stranger — amusing and abusing IT pros. Read his full profile. You can a...

Full Bio

Jay Garmon has a vast and terrifying knowledge of all things obscure, obtuse, and irrelevant. One day, he hopes to write science fiction, but for now he'll settle for something stranger — amusing and abusing IT pros. Read his full profile. You can also follow him on his personal blog.